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Scientist launches hunt for Loch Ness 'monster DNA'

18 Comments
By Mark MCLAUGHLIN

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More chance of Scotland qualifying for the football World Cup than there is of finding a monster

5 ( +5 / -0 )

With today's technology I would not be surprised if they found something, or didn't.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Actually, it was Russian mini-sub. Send the FBI!

By the way, this news was a few weeks old.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Monster DNA, a malevolent, shape-shifting "water horse", and confirmed by Dave Bell, skipper of the Nessie Hunter tourist boat.......estimated to be around 30 feet in length.

..........."It's dark water, very mysterious, there's lots of fog and mist, and large mountains draped in clouds so it has an aura of majesty and mystery about it. It's beautiful!" …..Andrea Ferguson, 56, a school teacher from Saint Louis, Missouri............

Nessie, will one day slither into the Court of Sessions and demand commercial Brand recognition plus legally enforcible protection by copyright. And rightly so.......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

His last project was the search for salad ingredients in Scottish homes.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

More chance of Scotland qualifying for the football World Cup than there is of finding a monster

There's optimism (even the Pope believes in miracles) ...

His last project was the search for salad ingredients in Scottish homes.

...and then there's foolish optimism.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Environmental DNA techniques, which are quite accurate, can identify if there is (are) unknown organisms. It can not identify a "monster" because we have no sample for comparison.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is nothing more than a bit of tabloid hype. The scientist knows perfectly well there is no monster there, but as soon as any scientist goes anywhere near Loch Ness it is suddenly a news event.

He is not looking for a monster - he is doing a legitimate scientific study on a large isolated body of water.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

People just love mysteries, drama and intrigues. That's why we have tabloids, movies, novels, literature, conspiracies and so on. It's a form of escapism. Contemplating different scenarios and stories makes your dopamine levels explode from all the expectations you build in. It's not the actual end result that you care about, it's the expectations that give us that sweet dopamine pleasure we all want.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That photo………why would any “monster” not from time to time surface for the odd occasional selfie…. ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

One of the interesting issues presented at the Loch Ness Centre on the loch focuses on food requirements. Marine biologists estimated the quantities of fish a creature of the type and size that Nessie is thought to be (or have been) would need to survive. Then they measured fish population sizes in the waters, and concluded that there were insufficient amounts of fish necessary to sustain Nessie. Scots were understandably disappointed to find that after 1000-plus years of recorded sightings, by clergymen, local fishermen, MP's and observers of all types and ranks, Nessie appears to be the result of indulgence in good single malt Scotch instead of a marine miracle.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Joe

Nessie’s a Scot. Whisky, shortbread and trace amounts of heroin will be ample....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I struggle to handle the whisky, lucabrasi but I do love the all butter shortbread which is more addictive that narcotics

If the Loch Ness Monster encourages more tourism, I am a believer.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well, dinosaurs were called dragons before about 1848 I think it was. Dragons existed, and still do. Now you take old Bigfoot...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If it weren't for the rumours of a monster, no one would know about Loch Ness, let alone visit the place.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Well, you'd be surprised where you can discover new species of life. I've read somewhere that you're far more likely than you might think to find a new insect species in your own garden. I doubt that they'll find any form of monster in Loch Ness, though they may find an abnormally large specimen of previously discovered fish.

"I find it hard to believe that over 1,000 people can be wrong,"

Tell that to all the people who were wrong about Trump making America "great" again. Pretty sure that was well over 1,000 people, who were proven to be horrifically wrong.

If it weren't for the rumours of a monster, no one would know about Loch Ness, let alone visit the place.

Obviously you've never been there then. There's a lot more to the Loch than just the mystery. Did you not see the picture up top? There's plenty of people who would give an arm and a leg to see a view like that. As Andrea Ferguson said:

"It's dark water, very mysterious, there's lots of fog and mist, and large mountains draped in clouds so it has an aura of majesty and mystery about it. It's beautiful!"

That's all the reason many people need to visit Loch Ness. It might be true that there'd be less people who visit it and know about it, but to say that no-one would know or go there is a gross exaggeration and entirely inaccurate.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

If it weren't for the rumours of a monster, no one would know about Loch Ness, let alone visit the place.

Nonsense.

For nerdy types, there are a lot of reasons to visit. It's big and it's deep. It contains more water than all the lakes of England and Wales together. Its about 230 meters at its deepest point. It forms part of the Caledonian Canal waterway, allowing boat transport from the Atlantic to the North Sea without having to go round the scary north coast. It forms the major part of the Great Glen, a geological fault that once separated Europe from America.

For less nerdy types, it's hard to avoid if you're travelling from Inverness anywhere westwards. Thus, perhaps, the numerous monster sightings. (Personally, I've only seen the monster three times.)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Marine biologists estimated the quantities of fish a creature of the type and size that Nessie is thought to be (or have been) would need to survive. Then they measured fish population sizes in the waters, and concluded that there were insufficient amounts of fish necessary to sustain Nessie.

Doesn't that just mean Nessie is eating all the fish? Sounds to me like evidence for, not against.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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